NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
Alex Feinberg, LCSW
225 Commercial Street, 3rd Floor
Portland, Maine 04101
Phone: 207-464-8487
Email: alexdfeinberg@gmail.com
Effective Date: 7/4/2026
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL AND MENTAL-HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU CAN ACCESS THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
This Notice of Privacy Practices explains my legal duties and privacy practices concerning your protected health information.
In this Notice, “I,” “me,” and “my practice” refer to Alex Feinberg, LCSW.
This Notice is intended to comply with applicable federal and Maine privacy laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly known as HIPAA, the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, applicable provisions of 42 C.F.R. Part 2, and Maine laws governing the confidentiality of health-care and mental-health information.
1. My Responsibilities
I am required to:
Protect the privacy and security of your protected health information.
Provide you with this Notice describing my legal duties and privacy practices.
Follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect.
Use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information.
Limit uses and disclosures to the minimum information reasonably necessary when that requirement applies.
Notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
Refrain from using or disclosing your information in a way that is not described in this Notice unless you provide written authorization or the law otherwise permits or requires the use or disclosure.
2. What Is Protected Health Information?
Protected health information, or PHI, is information that identifies you and relates to:
Your past, present, or future physical, behavioral, or mental-health condition.
The health-care or mental-health services you receive.
Payment for your care.
PHI may be maintained or communicated in written, electronic, photographic, video, or oral form.
Mental-health treatment records and psychotherapy notes may receive additional protection under federal and Maine law.
3. Your Rights
You have the following rights regarding your health information.
Obtain an Electronic or Paper Copy of Your Record
You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your health record and other health information maintained about you.
I will generally provide a copy or summary within 30 days of receiving your request. A reasonable, cost-based fee may be charged when permitted by law.
Certain information may be withheld when federal or state law permits or requires withholding it.
Request a Correction or Amendment
You may ask me to correct or amend information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
I may deny the request in certain circumstances, but I will explain the reason for the denial in writing, generally within 60 days.
Request Confidential Communications
You may ask me to contact you in a particular way or at a particular location. For example, you may ask that I use a specific phone number, email address, or mailing address.
I will accommodate reasonable requests.
Request Restrictions
You may ask me not to use or disclose certain health information for treatment, payment, or health-care operations.
I am not generally required to agree to every requested restriction. If I agree, I will follow the restriction unless the information is needed to provide emergency treatment or another law permits or requires disclosure.
If you pay for a service entirely out of pocket, you may ask me not to disclose information about that service to your health insurer for payment or health-care operations. I will honor that request unless disclosure is required by law.
Receive an Accounting of Disclosures
You may request a list of certain disclosures of your health information made during the six years before your request.
The accounting will not include disclosures for treatment, payment, health-care operations, disclosures made directly to you, disclosures you authorized, and certain other disclosures excluded by law.
One accounting within a 12-month period will be provided without charge. A reasonable, cost-based fee may be charged for additional requests during the same period.
Receive a Copy of This Notice
You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
Choose a Personal Representative
If another person has legal authority to act on your behalf, such as a legal guardian, health-care agent, or personal representative, that person may exercise your privacy rights.
I may require documentation confirming that person’s authority before taking action.
File a Complaint
You may file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.
You may contact:
Alex Feinberg, LCSW
Meet Your Life
Touchstone Associates
225 Commercial Street, 3rd Floor
Portland, Maine 04101
Phone: 207-464-8487
Email: alexdfeinberg@gmail.com
You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201
Phone: 1-877-696-6775
Complaints may also be submitted through the Office for Civil Rights’ online complaint portal.
You will not be denied care or retaliated against for filing a complaint.
4. Your Choices
In certain circumstances, you may tell me how you want your information shared.
You may ask me to share relevant information with:
Family members.
Close friends.
Caregivers.
Other people involved in your care.
People involved in paying for your care.
If you are unable to communicate your preference, I may share information when permitted by law and when, in my professional judgment, the disclosure is in your best interest.
I may also disclose information when necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of another person.
5. How I May Use or Disclose Your Information Without Written Authorization
Federal and state law permit or require certain uses and disclosures without your written authorization.
Maine law may impose additional restrictions on the disclosure of mental-health treatment information. When Maine law provides greater privacy protection than federal law, I will follow the more protective requirement.
Treatment
I may use your information to provide, coordinate, or manage your care.
When permitted by law, I may share relevant information with other professionals involved in your care, such as physicians, psychiatrists, prescribing providers, hospitals, pharmacies, or other clinicians.
Maine law may require your authorization before mental-health information is disclosed outside my practice in nonemergency circumstances, subject to exceptions for care coordination, payment, emergencies, and other disclosures permitted or required by law.
Payment
I may use and disclose information to bill you, submit claims, obtain payment, confirm benefits, or communicate with an insurance company or another person responsible for payment.
Health-Care Operations
I may use information for activities necessary to operate my practice, including:
Appointment scheduling.
Recordkeeping.
Quality improvement.
Professional consultation.
Credentialing.
Licensing and regulatory compliance.
Auditing.
Risk management.
Legal and accounting services.
Business planning.
Technology and security management.
Business Associates
I may provide information to outside individuals or organizations that perform services for my practice, such as:
Billing services.
Electronic health-record providers.
Secure communication or telehealth platforms.
Information-technology providers.
Accountants.
Attorneys.
Record-storage providers.
When required, these parties must enter into written agreements requiring them to protect your information.
Required by Law
I may disclose information when federal or Maine law requires me to do so.
This may include disclosures involving:
Court or administrative orders.
Valid legal process.
Mandatory reporting.
Health-care oversight.
Licensing investigations.
Compliance reviews.
A subpoena alone may not always authorize disclosure of protected mental-health information. I will review legal requests and disclose information only as permitted or required by applicable law.
Public Health and Safety
I may use or disclose information when permitted or required for activities such as:
Preventing or controlling disease.
Reporting adverse reactions to medications.
Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Protecting a person from a serious and imminent threat.
Complying with other public-health reporting obligations.
Abuse, Neglect, or Exploitation
I may disclose information when I am required by Maine law to report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child, older adult, dependent adult, or another protected person.
Health Oversight
I may disclose information to authorized government or professional oversight agencies for activities such as audits, investigations, inspections, licensure proceedings, or disciplinary matters.
Law Enforcement
I may disclose information for law-enforcement purposes only in the limited circumstances permitted or required by federal and Maine law.
Workers’ Compensation and Government Programs
I may disclose information as authorized by laws governing workers’ compensation, disability determinations, government benefit programs, military activities, national security, or other governmental functions.
Legal Proceedings
I may disclose information in response to a qualifying court or administrative order or other lawful process.
Additional restrictions may apply to mental-health records, psychotherapy notes, substance-use-disorder records, and information protected by Maine law.
Medical Examiners and Funeral Directors
When permitted by law, I may disclose relevant information to a medical examiner, coroner, or funeral director following a person’s death.
Research
I will not ordinarily use identifiable information for research. If information is used or disclosed for research, I will obtain your written authorization or follow the review and privacy safeguards required by law.
6. Uses and Disclosures That Generally Require Written Authorization
I will generally obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing information for:
Most uses or disclosures of psychotherapy notes.
Marketing purposes, except for communications permitted by law.
The sale of protected health information.
Purposes not otherwise described in this Notice.
You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time.
A revocation will not affect a use or disclosure already made in reliance on the authorization.
7. Psychotherapy Notes
Psychotherapy notes are notes recorded by a mental-health professional that document or analyze the contents of a counseling session and are maintained separately from the rest of the clinical record.
Psychotherapy notes receive additional protection under HIPAA and Maine law.
Your written authorization is generally required before psychotherapy notes may be disclosed, except for limited uses or disclosures permitted by law.
Psychotherapy notes are different from progress notes, diagnoses, treatment plans, medication information, appointment information, and other information maintained in your clinical record.
8. Substance-Use-Disorder Information
To the extent that I receive, create, or maintain substance-use-disorder patient records protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, those records receive additional federal protection.
Part 2 records generally may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you unless:
You provide written consent; or
A qualifying court order and subpoena authorize the use or disclosure.
Additional consent, notice, redisclosure, complaint, and breach-notification requirements may apply to Part 2 information.
Not every reference to alcohol use, medication use, or substance use in a therapy record automatically makes the record subject to Part 2. Part 2 applies only when its legal requirements are met.
9. Information Protected by Maine Law
Maine law may provide additional protection for certain information, including:
Mental-health treatment information.
Psychotherapy records.
Substance-use-disorder information.
HIV-related information.
Certain communicable-disease information.
Information concerning services to minors.
Other specially protected health information.
When Maine law is more protective of your information than federal law, I will follow Maine law.
10. Minor and Adolescent Clients
Parents and legal guardians generally have authority to make health-care decisions and access health information for a minor child, subject to federal and Maine law.
Maine law permits minors to consent to certain services in specific circumstances.
When a minor is legally permitted to consent to treatment, the minor may also control authorization for disclosure of information related to that treatment, unless another law provides otherwise.
Access to information may also be limited when:
Disclosure could cause substantial harm.
The parent or guardian is not acting as the minor’s personal representative under applicable law.
The information consists of psychotherapy notes.
Another federal or Maine confidentiality law applies.
I will use professional judgment and comply with applicable consent, confidentiality, safety, and mandatory-reporting requirements.
11. Electronic Communication and Telehealth
I may communicate with you through methods including:
Telephone.
Voicemail.
Email.
Text messaging.
Secure electronic messaging.
Telehealth platforms.
Electronic health-record systems.
I use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect electronic health information.
However, no electronic communication system is completely risk-free. Standard email and text messaging may be less secure than encrypted communication platforms.
Please avoid including highly sensitive clinical information in ordinary email or text messages. Electronic communication should not be used for emergencies.
12. Health Information Exchanges
If my practice participates in a health information exchange, information may be shared through that exchange only as permitted by federal and Maine law.
You may ask whether my practice currently participates in a health information exchange and whether opt-out or other privacy choices are available.
13. Changes to This Notice
I may change the terms of this Notice.
A revised Notice may apply to all health information maintained by my practice, including information created or received before the revision.
The current Notice will be:
Available upon request.
Available at my office.
Posted on my website when required or appropriate.
Identified by its effective date.
14. Questions
For questions about this Notice, your privacy rights, or the handling of your health information, contact:
Alex Feinberg, LCSW
225 Commercial Street, 3rd Floor
Portland, Maine 04101
Phone: 207-464-8487
Email: alexdfeinberg@gmail.com